I done run out of eggs.
And bread, and chicken broth, and beef stock, and chicken, and white wine.
My 10 meal plan is going to the dogs (well, not really - one thing I have in abundance right now is dog food).
It's salvagable but some changes are in order. First I'll tell you that I've already made:
asparagus chicken
cheese chile rellenos + spanish rice (good, but too many seeds = HOTTT); salad with ranch/salsa dressing
chicken with tomato & balsamic vinegar + saffron risotto (meh on both, although risotto is ALWAYS pretty good, IMO) + salad with cranberries, heart of palm, almond slivers, & a bleu cheese/lime dressing
italian almond citrus cake (great taste, not moist enough...will try again soon...)
The rest of my menu now looks like this:
CHICKEN
1. chicken tortilla soup - can't make it now - no chicken or chicken broth/ cheesy polenta / salad
2. chicken with tomato & apple balsamic vinegar / saffron risotto
3. lemon asparagus chicken / bread / salad
PORK
1. bacon-wrapped pork loin / saffron risotto - didn't make enough for 2 nights
2. croque madame cheddar-ham sandwiches - no bread left/ salad
BEEF
1. lettuce-wrap "burger" / sweet potato fries
2. optional: hatch chiles relleno stuffed with cheese & beef/ spanish rice - already made with cheese only
3. big ol' taco salad
TURKEY
1. gnocchi with sausage & spinach / salad
And for my animal-hugger crowd, a kinder & gentler option:
MEATLESS
1. wholewheat pasta with lemon-caper sauce & sundried tomatoes, olives, parmesan / broccoli
2. optional: hatch chiles relleno stuffed with just cheese / spanish rice
- BONUS ROUND -
DESSERTS!
1. braided peach streudel (w/vanilla bean ice cream & caramel sauce)
3. chocolate kahlua cupcakes - no eggs left
4. pineapple upside-down cake - no eggs left
As you can see, I'm down to 5 meals, + the 3 I've already made, which = 8 meals for 10 dollars. Still not bad, but it doesn't sound as good as 10 for 10.
Plus, I have a LOT more food to use up! The downside to this plan is that we aren't eating many fresh veggies. The dishes that are veggie-full are tortilla soup & taco salad, neither of which have sounded very appetizing lately. I am really craving some squash, carrots, fruit, anything from the produce section except lettuce/tomato (both of which I still have plenty). The fiance doesn't really dig the whole "breakfast for dinner" thing, so that's out. He grabs fast food sometimes for lunch, so burgers & mexican food are not an appealing option. I usually eat leftovers from the night before, which means I'm sick of my own cooking already & feeling uninspired.
I may have to try harder to use my frozen/canned vegetables. How is it that I have roughly 5 cans of tomato paste, but no canned beans, Rotel, peas, carrots, fruit, etc?
When I get home today I'm going to brainstorm 3 more dishes using what I have. And I'm hoping at least one of them is reasonably healthy, because exercising portion control on these heavy pasta/rice dishes is completely un-fun...
Tonight, it's going to be a big ol' taco salad & braided peach streudel (except that I realized what I have is actually frozen MIXED fruit, not just peaches...so it'll be a braided fruit tart... :)
our "DIY TACO SALAD" buffet:
Which DS used to make THIS mountinous salad...
(there's ground beef under all that mess. DS likes to pile it all on top of itself. he's adorable.)
In this meal, I used up the following ingredients from my fridge/freezer/pantry:
And for dessert, the fruit tart:
(really truly DELICIOUS, despite the fact that I used mostly fake sugar, only almond flour, and puff pastry that was older than dirt!)
Here's what I used to make it! So great with vanilla ice cream, y'all...
In other news, I'm temporarily a redhead! Check it out...
Me BEFORE (I'm on the right):
And me TODAY:
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